Box-lid holder.



No. 633,200. Patented Sept. 19, I899.

J. B. JOHNSON.

BOX LID HOLDER.

(Application filed Mar. 14, 1899.) (No Model.)

e F Z.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES RAY JOHNSON, OF AVOOA, IOXVA.

BOX-LID HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,200, dated September 19, 1899.

Application filed March 14, 1899; Serial No. 709,079. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES RAY JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States,residin g at Avoca, in the county of Pottawattamie and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Box- Lid Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manner and method of holding or bracing box-lids while in use; and the object ofsaid invention is to hold or brace box-lids while the same are being used, and especially cigar-box lids while the same are being used in the sale of cigars at retail while therein contained. I attain this object by the design or device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a drawing showing the exact shape of the said holder. Fig. 2is a drawing showing the upright or upper part of said holder, together with the hook or clasp which grasps and holds the lid of the box. Fig. 3 is a side view of the said holder, showing the horizontal and upright part thereof as it appears when in use and viewed from the end of the box and also showinga side view of the hooks by which the same is attached to the box and lid. Fig. at is a front view of the same when.

placed on the box, showing the hook by which the same is attached to the box, together with the upright bar which ends in the hook that holds the lid, and as the same appears when in use and viewed from the front. Fig. 5 is a drawingshowingthe holder as it appears when in place and in use on such a box and lid as it is designed to hold or brace.

The holder is made of wire and may be made of any size and strength desired, as best shown in Fig. 1.

The holder consists, essentially, of two hooks a and I), joined by the horizontal and vertical arms 0 and 8. At the point where these arms meet they are bent, as shown at g g, Fig. 1, and thus form a spring connection between the arms.

This holder is used by being placed on the end of the box, as shown in Fig. 5, the lower hook at thereon being placed over the edge of the box and the upper hook I) being placed on the end of the lid. When it is so placed, the

horizontal part 0 thereof drops on theinside of the box D, passing along the edge thereof to the corner next the lid 01, where a short turn is made in the direction of the length of the box. At this point the holder is again turned in an upward direction at e and resting on the back of the lid terminates in the hook Z), which holds the lid. This produces two short right angles at g g, which are shown near the center of Fig. 1. These hooks are made at such an angle that they produce a spring, the one counteractin g the other in such a manner as to produce a tension which holds the holderfirmly in its place.

The holder being made of common wire is easily bent to hold the lid at any angle desired, and the same holder can be made to fit all boxes of approximately the same size and shape.

I am aware that prior to my invention a cigar-box-lid holder has been made and used; but I am not aware that anything like or similar to my invention has ever been made or used.

What I claim for my invention is 1. Abox-lid holderconsisting of two hooks, one to embrace the edge of the box, and the other to embrace the edge of the lid, horizontal and vertical arms joining the same and bent to rest along' the edge ofthe box and behind the lid respectively, and a springconnection between the arms.

2. Abox-lid holder consisting of two hooks, one to embrace the edge of the box, and the other to embrace the edge of the lid, and two arms connecting said hooks, the said arms being joined together by a laterally-bentportion to direct one arm within the box and the other behind the lid.

3. Abox-lid holder consisting of a piece of wire having its ends turned into hook form, and bentinto two arms snbstantiallyat a right angle to each other, the portion of the wire at the bend being turned or offset at substantially right angles to the arms, whereby the arm leading from thelid-hook will rest behind the lid.

JAMES RAY JOHNSON, lVitnesses:

' L. T. KIMBALL,

G. E. BRowN. 

